Reflections

This week the cold broke. The feeling was in everything - the relief of the lifting of the cold. I could see it in the clothes people wore and in the lightness of their walk. It wasn't like when a chinook blows down because that has its own pressure; it wasn't like the softness of the first warm day of spring; it was more like the feeling you get at the end of a hot summer day when the pressure has been building up and finally the clouds pull together and the thunder hits. That feeling of relief that comes with the first rush of rain or whiff of ozone - the air was as different as that when the cold lifted. I know it's hard to imagine it matters so much. I know that it was only between maybe 6-12 degrees. I know that I've endured much colder weather than that for 6 or 7 months straight in Alberta, but somehow it weighed me down. And it weighed everyone else down, too. I didn't notice until they came back, but the crested mynas that sing so loudly above the ferry stop had been silent throughout the "cold snap." On the 18th the Meterological Society lifted the "cold weather" warning that had been effect since January 24th. The coldest CNY in 12 years, the longest cold spell since 1968; it made for a different energy in the city.

What I started to notice as soon as the cold lifted was that I could see shine of the buildings again. That cold air mass had been full of smoke and mist, curling around like the reeks of Mordor. In the last few weeks I kept looking for pictures and kept taking pictures even if I couldn't see any, but it was so frustrating how ugly everything looked. The air had become thick enough that I couldn't even see the reflections in the buildings.

Along with the cold breaking, it has gotten to the time of the year when the sun has come back. By Monday I think I'll see it shining past the Gotham City skyline to find our ferry on the commute. I think I've made it through another dark time of the year. It's one month until Equinox; hold on, you inhabitants of the northern climes.

Look. You can even see the reflection of the tower they're building across the water, Kowloon side. (The one on the header to the blog.)